Dottorato di ricerca in Comunicazione e mercati: Economia, Marketing e Creatività XXXI Cycle
Brand Building Behaviors in Premium and Luxury Retail Store: Sale Assistant Physiological Responses
to Experiences during the Selling Ceremony
Rancati Gaia Matr. 115499
Tutor: Prof. Francesco Massara Co-tutor: Prof.Luca Pellegrini
Coordinator: Prof. Pierluigi Sacco
ACADEMIC YEAR 2017/2018
Brand Building Behaviors in Premium and Luxury Retail: Sale Assistant Physiological Responses to Experiences during the Selling Ceremony
© IULM and Gaia Rancati 2019, Student no. (Matricola) 115499
To my unique human and feline family
Acknowledgements
A PhD is an intense, challenging and transformative experience. If I think back to when I started and where I am now, I can see I made a long journey. It is a route on which I embarked with the aim of developing, delving into a specific discipline, acquiring analytical ability and developing as a person and professionally. I feel very satisfied; I have nearly reached the summit and now more than ever I feel like it was the right choice. I learnt to look further afield, to use a structured though process and I feel stronger as a professional as a result of the cultural background that I have acquired.
In this journey, I have many important thanks that I need to pass on. Special thanks go to my advisor Prof. Francesco Massara and my co-tutor Prof. Luca Pellegrini, who sustained me to achieve my goals during this process. Another special thank goes to Prof. Paul J. Zak of Claremont Graduate University who welcomed me during my period as a visiting scholar in Claremont and gave me both time and attention, providing me with useful advices, enriching my journey in an extraordinary way. And Prof. Jorge Barraza and all team of Neuroeconomics Studies, because they immediately made me feel part of the team and for having given me the opportunity to constantly apply and develop my research.
When thanking people, I want to mention the following: Prof. Alessandra Mazzei who showed me for the first time the Brand Building Behaviors; Prof. Vincenzo Russo who introduced me to neuroscience and suggested to read the book “The Trust Molecule” by Prof. Paul J. Zak;
Prof. Maurizio Mauri who was always happy to exchange ideas and who always had words of encouragement to offer; Prof. Crano who was always helpuful in giving me insights on the methodology; Marcus of the Writing Center who hosted me in the PhDThesis Boot Camps.
A special thank goes to the wonderful people who helped me with my research: my friends Morgan and Arman Ariane who trusted my idea and gave me the opportunity to run the
experiment in their stores; Adriana, Lena, Hellen, Randy, and Elizabeth who helped me to set up and run the research; Manish who gave me the first insights of statistics; Marilu’ who made me the right questions to improve my study. Lastly thank you to the friends who were close to me even from the other side of the world: Paola, Luca, Simona, Sarah, Mauro, Lucia, Giorgio, Caterina. And all the beautiful friends I made in California: Yara, Randy, Drakar, Jesse, Maryl, James Miller III, Shamini, Chris and Dhruv.
In particular, this PhD and thesis are dedicated to my family: my father and my mother. They listened to me, supported me and understood, pushing me to never give up and to always move forwards. They are my biggest fans. Also, a special thanks goes to Alessandro, who always supported me to achieve my goals and kept being by my side in this crazy life. Another special thanks is for Ali, who remained with me, during the long days I spent running the experiment, researching and writing. An extremely special thanks go to my feline family: Sebastian, Tiffany, Baghera, Sirius and Trilli.
Claremont, 11th February 2019 Gaia Rancati
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 ... 19
LITERATURE REVIEW ... 19
1.1 The Framework Environment: The Premium-Luxury Retail Store ... 20
1.1.1 Luxury: from the Definition to the Luxury Retail Store. ... 20
1.1.2 Premium-Luxury Retail Store Evolution: The New Functions. ... 22
1.2 The Experience Inside the Retail Store: Creating the Extraordinary during the Service Encounter ... 29
1.2.1 The Concept and the Characteristics of the Experience. ... 30
1.2.2 Extraordinary and Terrible Experiences: from the Definition to the Analysis Inside the Retail Setting. ... 36
1.3 Behavioral Branding as a Tool to Provide Experience in the Retail Setting ... 41
1.3.1 From Organizational Citizenship Behavior to Behavioral Branding ... 42
1.3.2 The Sales Assistant as Brand Ambassador ... 49
1.4 The Selling Ceremony as the Experiential Platform ... 53
1.4.1 From the Personal Selling Process to the Selling Ceremony ... 54
1.4.2 The Seven Steps of the Selling Ceremony ... 60
1.4.3 Extra Role Behaviors Inside the Selling Ceremony to Provide Extraordinary Experiences ... 78
1.5 Assessing Experiences: Field Experiment, Peripheral Physiology and Coding Behaviors ... 83
1.5.1 Field Experiment: Naturalistic Research ... 83
1.5.2 Assessing Immersion through the Peripheral Physiology ... 88
1.5.3 Observation and Coding of Behaviors ... 93
CHAPTER 2 ... 97
METHODOLOGY,RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND PROCEDURES ... 97
2.1 Evidence from the literature review and research objectives ... 97
2.1.1 Hypothesis of the research ... 100
2.1.2 Possible contribution to the theory ... 103
2.2 Methodology and Research Design ... 105
2.2.1 Data Collection: Field Experiment ... 108
2.2.2 Data Collection: Demographic Survey ... 111
2.2.3 Data Analysis: Sale Assistant’s Physiological Responses through Immersion 112 2.2.4 Data Analysis: Observing and Coding Behaviors ... 114
CHAPTER 3 ... 119
RESULTS ... 119
3.1 Field Experiment ... 119
3.2 Demographic Survey ... 120
3.3 Hypothesis 1: Sale Assistant’s Average Immersion and Customer Purchase ... 121
3.4 Hypothesis 2: The Relationship between Customer Co-Variables and Physiology 123 3.5 Coding and Observing Peaks of Immersion with Behaviors ... 126
CHAPTER 4 ... 130
DISCUSSION,LIMITATIONS,CONCLUSIONS ... 130
4.1 Discussion ... 130
4.1.1 Sale Assistant Physiology and Customer Purchase ... 131
4.1.2 The Relationship between Immersion, Customer Covariates and Physiology . 133 4.1.3 Sale Assistant’s Immersion Peaks and Brand Building Behaviors ... 136
4.2 Limitations and further research ... 142
4.2.1 Methodology ... 142
4.2.2 Further limitations ... 143
4.3 Conclusion ... 144
REFERENCES ... 148
WEBSITES ... 184
APPENDIX ... 185
APPENDIX A ... 185
APPENDIX B ... 187
APPENDIX C ... 188
APPENDIX D ... 189
APPENDIX E ... 191
Introduction
This thesis is the synthesis of an exploration of both national and international literature over three years and empirical analysis of Brand Building Behaviors in the retail premium and luxury setting. This study assesses sale assistant peripheral physiology responses during the service encounter and analyzes the behaviors inside the Selling Ceremony that provide engagement and frustration. It explores the following disciplines in particular: luxury, retail management & store management; customer experience and
extraordinary experiences; sales management and personal selling process (including selling ceremony); behavioral branding & brand building behaviors; physiology and immersion.
This research was conducted from 2015 to 2018, during the PhD program in
Comunicazione e Mercati at IULM University. As part of my PhD I spent a full year abroad as a Visiting Scholar at Claremont Graduate University.
Purpose of the Thesis
The purpose of this research is to understand how the sale assistant (also called sale
associate) can influence the customer purchase decisions, and what specific behaviors during the service encounter generate engagement and frustration. To do so, after the literature review, the research analysis is divided in two studies. Firstly, the quantitative study assesses the sale assistant peripheral physiology responses during the service encounter in the retail premium-luxury store, in order to understand how they influence customer purchase decisions. In the second observational study, this research observes the Brand Building Behaviors inside the script of the Selling Ceremony to analyze the positive and negative physiological impact and where these behaviors are located during the service encounter.
Retail has also changed dramatically over the last two decades with the advent of the online channel and the impact of the digitalization that has drastically reduced turnover from physical stores to online (Verhoef et al., 2015). Therefore, traditional retailers, including luxury and premium Brands, have been forced to completely rethink the role of the physical store as the place where customers expect a relational, playful, explorative, and informative experiences (Stephens, 2017). Within the premium-luxury sector, the store constitutes a central element in the positioning strategy (Moore et al., 2010; Doyle at al., 2008) and it’s the main place in which the Brand legitimates its power (Cervellon & Coudriet, 2013; Som &
Blackaert, 2015; Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2012). In this perspective, the sale assistant personifies the role of a Brand Ambassador (Jacobs, 2003; Cervellon & Coudriet, 2013) and through his sales style greatly influences the in-store customer experience and costumer purchase decisions (Lent & Tour, 2009).
Increasingly, researchers are recognizing the significance of considering sale assistant and customer as co-producers in value co-creation during the service encounter (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000; Vargo and Lusch, 2004). In particular, sale assistant is not only an
integral part of service delivery but is also a critical determinant of customers’ service perceptions and influencing customers’ purchase decision (Bove et al., 2009; Liao and Chuang, 2004; Parasuraman et al., 1991; Mills and Morris, 1986; Zhao et al., 2018).
Therefore, many internal branding studies have tried to align the employees’ behaviors to the company vision and values. However, today, it is necessary to develop a structured process that uniforms effectively the behavior of the sale assistant to the Brand to provide the consumer with a high-quality relationship and experience (Ferraresi & Schmitt, 2006). And this is even more important in the premium-luxury context, that distinguishes itself from mass-market for the assistance and attention to the customer and the sales staff as a valuable Brand asset (Chevalier and Mazzalovo, 2012). Therefore, the present research, has applied for the first time the Brand Building Behavior concept inside retail, because it focuses on conveying a Brand-consistent meaning during the interaction with the customer to generate engagement and customer experience (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015). To adapt the concept of the Brand Building Behaviors to the service encounter inside premium-luxury stores, the script of the Personal Selling Process (PSP) (Dubinsky et al. 1980 & 1981) has been analyzed and enriched with the Brand values, evolving into the script of the Selling Ceremony (Caru'
& Cova, 2003; Priest, 2016; Cervellon & Coudriet, 2013).
Considering the importance of conveying a consistent and effective customer
experience, both academics and practitioners have tried to engineer the customer experience (e.g. Berry & Carbone, 1994 and 2002) or examined the sale assistant’s behaviors that provide extraordinary experiences (Solomon et al., 1985; Bitner et al., 1990; Bitner et al., 1994), but most of these studies are qualitative and mostly based on customer’s surveys (Elvin, 2003; Hsu & Chiang, 2011), and only a few of them consider the employee’s perspective (Bitner, 1990; Schneider & Bowen, 1985; Brown &Swartz, 1989; Price
&Arnould, 1994). And, although service scripts have been used across a myriad of
organizations to facilitate sale assistant–customer interactions (Elvin, 2003; Hsu & Chiang,
2011), there has been surprisingly little quantitative research. And, none of these mentioned studies consider sale assistant and customer as co-producers and interdependent in value co- creation during their interaction (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000; Vargo & Lusch, 2004).
In the last decades, the growing field of neuroscience and behavioral sciences clearly suggests that what is reported by the customer during an interview or in a focus group (the result of a rational process), may not correspond to a real behavior, because it may be based on less rational and more automatic processes (Fazio & Olson, 2003). Moreover, how people respond to traditional survey scales is heavily impacted by culture, current physiologic state outside the target experience (e.g. fatigue, hunger), and socioeconomic status (Zak &
Barraza, 2018). Therefore, customers can’t accurately or consistently report their unconscious emotional reactions to experiences. Additionally, no physiological device has ever been used during a real service encounter and in a premium-luxury store, because methods like EEG, Eye-Tracking and FMRI are too invasive to be used in the store and they can invalidate the results of the investigation (Babiloni et al. 2007; Zurawicki, 2010).
Therefore, with the aim of understanding how the sale assistant is able to influence the customer purchase decisions, and what specific behaviors during the service encounter generate engagement and frustration, an innovative approach based on the immersion has been chosen for this study. The immersion has been defined by Zak and Barraza (2018) as a
“state of concentration or absorption in an activity, like work or performance”. It depends on two elements connected to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems: attention to the experience and emotional engagement. The immersive properties of narratives have been studied in different researches(Gerrig, 1993; Green & Brock, 2000; Barraza & Zak, 2009; Lin et al., 2013; Zak, 2015). Barraza et al. (2015) has shown that narratives that sustain attention and generate emotional resonance are judged more enjoyable and significantly and
independently predict charitable giving. Sale assistant’s immersion can be measured biologically capturing neural signals associated to heart and gut through some forearm
sensors with some advantages: the absence of self-report biases, the non-invasive method, and the robust signal. These studies on the immersive properties of narratives create a parallel with the present research. In fact, the script of the Selling Ceremony is the cognitive
structure with procedural schemas, that like a narrative, guides comprehension and recall of the customer (Abelson, 1981; Bower et al., 1979; Humphrey & Ashforth, 1994; Nguyen, 2014; Hudson & Nelson, 1983).
In order to deeply analyze all the different aspects of this research, the functional use of more combined methods in three different phases (field experiment, quantitative analysis, behaviors’ coding) is necessary. The first phase of the field experiment collects sale
assistant’s data inside the store through sensors on the sale assistant’s arms and the video recordings of the interactions. The second phase of the quantitative analysis assesses sale assistant peripheral physiology responses through the immersion and during the service encounter to understand how these physiological responses influence customer purchase decisions. Lastly, the research combines the immersion data with video recordings, in order to identify the connection between Brand Building Behaviors in the Selling Ceremony and positive and negative peaks of physiological immersion.
Definitions of Key Terms
Brand (Luxury Brand): Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these, which is intended to identify the goods and services of a Company or a Group, and to differentiate them from those of the competitors (Kotler, 1991); a Brand can have tangible and intangible features (Park & Srinivasan, 1994), as well as social aspects like meaning, value, relationships, community, etc. (Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001; Keller, 2003; Kapferer, 2004; Luedicke, 2006). In the same context, luxury Brands are regarded as images in the minds of consumers that comprise associations about a high level of price, quality, aesthetics, rarity, extraordinariness and a high degree of non-functional associations (Heine, 2012).
Consumer Experience: originates from a series of interactions between a customer and a product, business or part of an organization, which provoke a reaction. It is strongly personal and multidimensional (rational, emotional, sensory, physical and spiritual). Its evaluation depends on the comparison between the costumer expectation and the stimuli coming from the interaction and in the correspondence of the different moments of contacts or
touchpoints.1
Extraordinary Experiences: memorable, uncommon and inherently superior experiences compared to common, ordinary, frequent experiences. They go beyond the realm of everyday life and they are more active, intense, and stylized, making the customer experience beyond the norm.
Brand Building Behaviors: the ability of employees “to convey Brand consistent meaning during the interaction with costumers and contribute to generate valuable positive outcomes
1 Gentile, Spiller & Nuts (2007), p. 397, quoted in Verhoef P.C., Lemon K.N., Parasuraman A., Roggeveen A. &
Tsiros M., Schlesinger, LA, (2009), Customer Experience Creation: Determinants, Dynamics and Management Strategies, Journal of Retailing, 85/1, p. 32.
in terms of Brand experience, customer Brand engagement and costumer experience in shopping and service encounters” (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015)
Selling Ceremony: the set of ritual behaviors and communications that the sale assistant, as a Brand Ambassador, must perform during physical or digital interactions with the customer, placing him at the center of the process” (Caru’ & Cova, 2003; Sacerdote, 2016; Cervellon &
Coudriet, 2013).
Psychophysiology: concerns relationships between physiology and behavior, where
behaviors broadly construed to include some activities as sleep, problem solving, reaction to stress, learning, attention, memory, information processing, sensation, perception, and emotional responses (Andreassi, 2007). Psychophysiological responses are commonly referred covert changes in such things as heart rate, blood pressure or skin conductivity, as well as more overt expressive responses such as crying, facial expressions, body movement and brain activation.
Autonomic Nervous System: the system of nerves that regulates the function of all innervated tissues and organs throughout the vertebrate body except striated muscle fibers, that is, the innervation of the viscera, vasculature glands and some other tissues. It includes into three systems: the sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system, enteric nervous system (Langley, 1903).
Immersion: is similar to “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997), a state of concentration or absorption in an activity, like work or performance. Biologically it depends on two key elements: attention to the experience and emotional engagement during it. Both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are indicative of attention and emotional engagement.
Chapter 1 Literature Review
The objective of the analysis of national and international literature was to identify a model for the research questions and related hypotheses. In the first part, the following conceptual framework has been analyzed.
Figure 1.
Conceptual Framework
The framework environment of this study is the premium-luxury retail store. In this context, the service encounter, specifically the sales assistant Brand Building Behaviors that create the customer experience within the Selling Ceremony has been analyzed.
Because this process is both cognitive and emotional, sales assistant physiological responses have been investigated to assess if they predict customer purchase decision. Then, the connection with sale assistant physiological positive and negative peaks of immersion and Brand Building Behaviors inside the service encounter has been analyzed, to understand the behaviors that generate engagement and frustration and where they are located.
1.1 The Framework Environment: The Premium-Luxury Retail Store
The purpose of this section is to explain the framework environment, where the sale assistant-customer interactions take place. In particular, research has shown how the concept of luxury has changed from a product-based “old luxury” approach and enlarged to a “new luxury” meaning where the concept varies from person to person (Corbellini & Saviolo, 2017). This justifies the decision to set the current research in a premium store.
As for luxury, the new functions of the premium-luxury store have been presented, where the store is not destined to disappear, but it plays a different and wider role to be a source of competitive advantage. Referring to the purpose of my research, the connection with the Brand and the role of the sale assistant have been developed.
1.1.1 Luxury: from the Definition to the Luxury Retail Store.
One of the most fundamental issues in the study is the concept of luxury2, because while it represented a specialized and “for a few” market in the past, today, it is transverse, global, and more accessible (Corbellini & Saviolo, 2007). In fact, what may be luxury to one person, or one culture may be not so to another. This term has been utilized by magazines and advertising to identify a multitude of Brands and products including apparel, leather goods, accessories, cosmetic, alcoholics, tourism, cars and even ice creams. Hence, a clear definition is necessary.
The definition of “luxury” has been debated in many fields of study including history (Berry, 1994), economy (Smith, 1776; Leibenstein, 1950), sociology (Bourdieu, 1984), psychology (Wong & Ahuvia, 1998) and even anthropology (Malinowski, 1922) over the last two decades. According to the Dictionary3, luxury can be defined as a “something adding to
2 Going back in history, the word luxury derives from the Latin “luxation” meaning distance from ordinary and
“luxus” meaning excess, extravagance and even vicious indulgence. The first definition, in terms of economic perspective, is that of Adam Smith(1776), who placed consumption in four categories: "necessary," "basic,"
"affluence" and "luxury." Luxury was identified as goods produced in limited quantities, which were difficult to find and/or very expensive.
3 The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2016)
pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary one of life's luxuries; an indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease.” Referring to the fashion luxury, the concept evolved indicating Brands and products with an intangible and aspirational value, becoming a synonym of “prestige”4, which covers a wider meaning that can be applied to other categories inside fashion like upmarket, premium and luxury (Saviolo & Testa, 2005).
Therefore, it seems possible to delineate two main categories (Corbellini & Saviolo, 2007):
the luxury Brand in the strict sense, focused on iconic products, following scarcity rules, with limited editions and handmade; as well as, the premium Brand, focused on mass-produced products, attentive on quality and image, fashion-oriented with attention on contemporaneity and innovation.
In line with this concept of luxury and focusing on retail, Moore and Doherty (2007) define luxury fashion retailers as:
“...those firms that distribute clothing, accessories and other lifestyle products which are: ... exclusively designed and/or manufactured by/or for the retailer;... exclusively Branded with a recognized insignia, design handwriting or some other identifying device; ... perceived to be of a superior design, quality and craftsmanship; ...priced significantly higher than the market norm; ... sold within prestigious retail settings (p.143).
Though not claiming to be an exhaustive list, retailers that conform to this categorization include Prada, Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Hermes, Burberry and Mulberry (Moore et al., 2010). This definition shows that the concept of
“luxury” during the years has shifted away from a pure product-based “old luxury” approach, focused on the intrinsic characteristics of the product itself, to a “new luxury” meaning where the concept of luxury can vary from person to person, depending on their personal
4 For further information, see: B. Dubois, S. Czellar, Luxury Brands or prestige Brands? 31st European Marketing Academy Conference Proceedings, European Marketing Academy, 2002, pp.4-5
consumption (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008; Kapferer, 2014) and connected more to immaterial components like consumer’s expectations and experience (Okonkwo, 2009).
Consistent with this perspective, where the experience of buying a product is as important as the ownership of the product itself (Pine and Gilmore, 1998), the retail store (in particular the flagship) plays a pivotal role in communicating the retailer’s values and market positioning to prospective consumers. If executed well, it offers a managed luxury consumption experience which coherently and consistently supports the status of the luxury fashion retailer, their Brands, and their values (Moore et al., 2010). For this reason, an increasing number of luxury and premium companies are placing experiences at the core of their marketing strategy, providing the symbolic value and emotional connection that keep the “dream component” of luxury Brands alive (Atwal & Williams, 2009; Berthon et al, 2009; Kapferer & Bastien, 2009; Grigorian et al. 2014).
1.1.2 Premium-Luxury Retail Store Evolution: The New Functions.
Retail has changed dramatically in the last two decades. This period has often been referred to as the "disruptive development" of retail to emphasize the advent of the online channel and the impact of the digitalization that has drastically reduced turnover from physical stores to online (Verhoef et al., 2015; Christensen & Raynor, 2003). Therefore, traditional retailers have been forced to completely rethink the role of the physical store in an omnichannel perspective (Herring et al., 2014).
It is precisely this shift from a multi-channel retail model to the omnichannel stage that has seen the rise of an outside-in approach where the customer seamless experience is the priority and all activities are redesigned based on consumer’s preferences (Bettucci et al., 2016; Verhoef et al., 2015). These important changes have also led premium-luxury companies, traditionally product-oriented, to shorten and speed up the business chain to orientate towards a customer-centric perspective (Corbellini & Saviolo, 2014; Saviolo, 2017).
In this change, not all distribution channels have the same importance, rather, they must be
carefully managed as a portfolio and in synergy with the sole objective of customer satisfaction (Avery et al., 2012; Bettucci et al., 2016), during the whole customer journey (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Verhoef et al, 2015; Arnould et al 2004; Tynan, 2009).
In this omnichannel perspective, the store is not destined to disappear, but it becomes the place where customers expect a relational, playful, explorative, and informative
experience to be a source of competitive advantage (Stephens, 2017; Herring, 2014). The following functions for luxury and premium retail stores have been identified from an analysis of the existing literature based on luxury and its development in the retail sector:
Figure 2.
The new functions of the luxury premium retail store
1. Place of legitimization and communication of the Brand
The choice to buy inside the store does not meet the criteria of pure functionality. In fact, luxury retail stores,5 are extraordinary places of communication and legitimization of the Brand (Moore et al.2004). They have been compared to "the pyramids of the ancient
5 For different format of retail stores see Corbellini & Saviolo (2007) Place of Legitimization and
Communication of the Brand Relational, Multisensory and
Emotional Platform Recreational Space Co-Creation Lab Place of Education and Self-
affirmation Information/Service Center
Catalyst of a Community Advocate Convertion Point
Egyptians were the emblem of the non-human status / as a God of the pharaohs "(Hirschman, 1990 in Cervellon & Coudriet, 2013) and contribute to the creation of Brand Identity and Brand storytelling6 through physical elements such as location, shop windows, layout, merchandising, light, music; and soft components such as atmosphere, entertainment, service (Berry & Bendapudi, 2004; Stephens, 2016). In particular, luxury Brands legitimize their power in the store displays exhibiting merchandise from designer collections as treasures often behind glass windows and pedestals. Shiny display cases are ubiquitous, lighting is focused on the objects, and customers are placed at some physical distance from the items.
(Cervellon & Coudriet, 2013). According to Dion and Arnould (2011), luxury Brands deploy a range of formal mechanisms derived from the world of museums so that the commercial luxury object obtains an "auratic power" derived from the magic and creativity that is injected by the artistic director into the Brand and diffused via the luxury retail strategy.
This prestige and status are used heuristically by the consumer when they compare Brands with each other (Dawson, 1988). Therefore, consumers understand the prestige of buying inside the store through elements such as the size of the store and the type of customer that frequents it (Dawson, 1988).
2. Relational, multisensory and emotional platform
The boutique strengthens its role as a relationship platform, a space in which Brands and customers meet, where the luxury hedonic appeal is multisensorial and affect-rich
(Zaghi, 2008). Luxury flagships are designed to take into account all the senses and create an emotional response in its consumers (Riewoldt, 2002). This has been described as a
“sensorial universe” that is capable of reaching different emotional contact (Desgrippes &
Gobe, 2007, p. 80) Brand. Castaldo and Mauri (2005) use the term “relational innovation,”
which acts through three main levers. One of them is experiential shopping defined as logics adopted by commercial enterprises to allow customers to experience a unique, emotional, and
6 For Brand Storytelling characteristics in the service perspective refer to Ind, 2001 cap.7
thrilling shopping experience, determined by the presence, within the sales point, of sensorial stimuli aimed at eliciting an emotional response from an individual who, due to his individual characteristics and sought-after benefits, presents a hedonistic attitude towards the shopping itself.7
As Dior and Arnould state (2011) boutiques and shops are “punctuated by rituals that structure customers’ contact with the objects on offer.” Like other magical rituals, “they invite the customers to absorb some of the magic of luxury creation through contagion”
(Mauss & Hubert 1902/1993; Dior & Arnould, 2011 p. 512). There are the rituals of
preparation, where the door is closed giving the impression that the entrance is restricted and where a well-dressed doorman opens the door for the customers and bids them welcome.
There are selling process rituals designed to create a special retail experience that contains a range of myths, narratives, and stories involving deeply the consumer (Borghini et al. 2009;
Kozinets et al. 2002; Hollenbeck et al. 2008).
3. Recreational space
This function assumed by the store is linked to recreational shopping (Aiello &
Donvito, 2005) showing that the motivations for going to the store vary depending on the type of customers and the different areas in which the activity of shopping is carried out (Castaldo & Botti, 1999). In luxury, there is a strong prevalence of recreational-hedonistic consumption.8 Consumers engage in conspicuous consumption, or directly through the purchase of products or in a broader sense through the flagship environment. This
environment offers consumers a combination of entertainment and Brand experience where two are closely intertwined to be indistinguishable from one another (Schmitt, 1999b;
Borghini et al., 2009). Consumers are "browsers" (Chevalier & Gutsatz, 2012 p.110) who
7 Inside Castaldo and Mauri (2007) “Innovation, Experience, Partnership”, Milano: Franco Angeli, p.24 Prada Epicenters and Gucci are perfect examples of experiential shopping.
8 Aiello e Donvito (2005 p.5) distinguish between two antithetical approaches: a utilitarian-functional vision and a purely recreational-hedonistic vision. In this case, shopping is considered a means of procuring goods, whose value derives from the products and services purchased (and therefore the success of a shopping experience is measured by the rationality and efficiency demonstrated in the purchase process).
consider the store as a recreational and inspirational place where shopping is a source of gratification and satisfaction regardless of the goods purchased. This is connected to the hedonistic nature of the act of purchase in itself. This fine pastime was defined by Csikszentimihalyi (1975) as autotelic activity (Aiello & Donvito, 2005) and by Wolf (Kozinets et al., 2002). Therefore, while the "economic" shopper classifies the benefits in terms of savings at the store, the "recreational" consumer, or recreational shopper, considers the benefits in relation to the pleasure deriving from the shopping activity carried out (Aiello
& Donvito, 2005).
4. Co-Creation lab
Traditionally, value was created within the business and then delivered to the customer.
Today, the retail environment becomes the product. Thus, this new logic (Vargo & Lusch, 2004) emphasizes service as the core component and brings a new understanding of retail, where value is created through customer’s participation in the co-creation (Baron & Harris 2008) throughout the design, production, delivery and consumption processes (Payne et al.
2008). The fact the consumer is a collaborator, brings with it three assumptions: the value is determined by the user during all the consumption process and the connected experience (Kozinets et al. 2004 p.659; Corbellini & Saviolo, 2007); the customer becomes a co- producer; that co-creation is inherently relational and strongly linked to value in use reinforcing emotional Brand connection.9.
5. Place of education and self-affirmation
Inside the store, the customer is able to actively experiment with new creative and entertaining methods of using the product because the store shows the product within its context, offering the consumer a complete vision (Stephens, 2016). This kind of activity can be defined as “edutainment” (Ferraresi & Schmitt, 2006), in fact, learning takes place with
9 A 2013 study by Bain & Co. "Making it personal: rules for success in product customization" has shown that the people who make the product customization are more related to the Brand and provide a higher score in the Net Promoter Score
active participation. This activity in the luxurious environment of the flagship provides pleasure and self-affirmation, where being and becoming a desired and desirable self occurs within a prestigious context befitting to the goals of the individual who chooses to shop in that environment (Berthon et al., 2009). Successful Brands are the ones able to influence self- affirmation as described by Maslow (1998) as “the desire to become more and more what an individual is able to be.”.
6. Information/service center
The store is the place where information is sought, where the product is explained, and the customer is advised according to their specific needs. The interactive nature between store and consumer brings mutual benefits. In fact, if the store is the place where the
consumer acquires the maximum information about a product, the company is concurrently in the position to grasp the maximum information about its customers (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008). Bettini et al. (2016) report the main and non-replicable reasons that lead people to prefer the retail channel to online:10the possibility to see, touch, wear and try the comfort of the garments; the possibility of obtaining the products immediately; the speed and simplicity of making a return; the pleasantness of the store's environment; and the convenience of the price without delivery. In addition to these purely functional needs, the store allows
consumers to experience cognitive, sensory, and emotional experiences associated with the Brand (Pine & Gilmore, 2000; Hameide, 2011).
7. Catalyst of a community
While visiting luxury stores in the USA, Twitchell (2003) documents a cultural shift where unity or a sense of community is based on acquisition of products, and a common experience in Branded spaces, where people sharing the same passion gather together and interact. This place, the store, celebrates the activities and lifestyle associated with a type of
10 On the other hand, the characteristics of online that make it a preferred channel for purchases, are the possibility of making purchases without time constraints and without moving from home, the ease of comparing prices and finding exactly what you want without incurring stock-out risk (Bettini et al., 2016).
product (Stephens, 2016). The luxury store takes advantage of exclusivity by creating a sort of desirable club through invitations to special events such as fashion shows and trunk shows (Schor, 1998).
8. Advocate conversion point
The store is a place where every interaction with the customer is not aimed exclusively at the conversion rate, but it serves as the entrance gate to reach the entire ecosystem of the Brand (products, purchases, methods, services). The ultimate goal is to convert them into fanatical and long-term advocates (Stephens, 2016, p.160).
In summary, the retail store has changed its original purely functional-utilitaristic linked sales function, to a more strategic function in the omnichannel perspective. The most important tool is now to deliver the Brand Identity and its storytelling in the setting of premium-luxury stores. Whether it is a co-creation of activity, or a meeting between people who have the same interests, this multi-sensory activity acts as the thread that unites these functions. The role of the Branded customer experience connects these aims to create a positive and continuous relationship with the customer.
1.2 The Experience Inside the Retail Store: Creating the Extraordinary during the Service Encounter
In this section, the concept of the experience is explored, with a focus on the retail setting of the premium and luxury store. The term “experience”11 is the main component of experiential marketing, experience marketing, customer experience, and Brand experience.
Even with this common focus, there are mixed views and interpretations in how to adopt this approach. Furthermore, some of these terms are used as synonyms, but not always. So, part of the literature review will clarify and define these concepts. This review also assesses how the customer experience is related to the Brand experience and to sales assistants’ behaviors inside premium-luxury stores. This includes the co-creation dimension of the customer experience, a dimension that describes the experience as an exchange involving a dyadic interaction between a sale assistant and a customer (Grönroos, 1990), in which the immersion plays a key role. The final part of this section explores the extraordinary and terrible
experiences inside the service encounter with a focus on the retail setting. The aim is to connect these experiences with Brand Building Behaviors (paragraph 1.3) and then assess the sale assistant peripheral physiology during the service encounter.
11 Definition of experience Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Gove, 1976, p. 800) L experientia, fr. experient-, experiens (pres. part. of experiri to try)
1 obs a: a trial or test b: a tentative trial c: a conclusive proof;
2 direct observation of or participation in events: an encountering, undergoing, or living through things in general as they take place in the course of time;
3 a: the state, extent, duration, or result of being engaged in a particular activity (as a profession) or in affairs, b obs: something approved by or made on the basis of such experience;
4 knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of or participation in events: practical wisdom resulting from what one has encountered, undergone, or lived;
5 a: the sum total of the conscious events that make up an individual life, b: the sum total of events that make up the past of a community or nation or that have occurred within the knowledge of mankind generally;
6 something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through, as a: an event observed or participated in, b (1):
a state of mind that forms a significant and often crucial part of one’s inner religious life and that is sometimes accompanied by intense emotion, (2): an account of such an experience, c: illicit sexual relations;
7 something by which one is stimulated or moved;
8 philos a: the act or process of perceiving or apprehending, b: the content or the particular result of such experience, c: the discriminative reaction or the nonconscious response of an organism to events or happenings within its environment
1.2.1 The Concept and the Characteristics of the Experience.
There is a lack of clarity in the term “experience” in the current literature. Tynan and McKechnie (2009) explain that experience is both a noun and a verb and “it is used variously in the literature to convey the process itself, participating in the activity, the affect or way in which an object, thought or emotion is felt through the senses or the mind, and even the outcome of an experience by way of a skill or learning for example.” (p.506). Experiences have many dimensions as there is a difference between the simple pleasure of an ordinary or mundane experience and the enjoyment of an extraordinary or flow experience (Carù & Cova 2003).
Experience Marketing
The first introduction of the concept of the experience was in the mid-1980s. Along with the mainstream literature in consumer behavior that deemed customers as rational decision makers, Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) offered a complementary12 and enriched view to consumer behavior that included an emotional and irrational side, beyond the rational act of the purchase. This perspective was in contrast to the information processing
perspective which stresses product attributes, utilitarian functions, and conscious and verbal thought processes (Addis & Holbrook, 2001). In their experiential view, affect plays a key role not just in influencing attitude and arousal, but in terms of the effects of the full range of possible consumer emotions (e.g., love, hate, fear, joy, boredom, anxiety, pride, anger, lust, and guilt). Their work is important because it shows the close connection between experience and the emotional dimension, emphasizing the need for a greater understanding of what happens within the individual during the experience. Given the impact of this perspective, the literature in the late 1990s and 2000s largely followed Holbrook and Hirschman’s view. In
12 Holbrook and Hirschman (1982 p.139) pointed out that they did not want to replace one theory with another, their approach was complementary. “Neither problem-directed nor experiential components can safely be ignored. By focusing single-mindedly on the consumer as information processor, recent consumer research has tended to neglect the equally important experiential aspects of consumption, thereby limiting our understanding of consumer behaviour. Future research should work toward redressing this imbalance by broadening our area of study to include some consideration of consumer fantasies, feelings, and fun.”
1994, Carbone and Haeckel stated that the experience is the "takeaway impression formed by people's encounters with products, services, and businesses, a perception produced when humans consolidate sensory information.” For them, the experience could be good or bad, lasting or fleeting, a random phenomenon or an engineered perception.
In their influential paper Pine and Gilmore (1998, p. 98) present the ‘‘experiences’’ as the fourth economic offering, which emerges as the next step after commodities, goods, and services, termed the progression of economic value. They state that an experience occurs
“when a company intentionally uses services as the stage, and goods as props, to engage individual customers in a way that creates a memorable event. Based on their experience economy theory (Pine and Gilmore; 1998 and 1999), the concept of Experience Marketing raised, and, as they said: “it can create emotions by making entertainment for customers, by allowing them to escape from the reality, by educating them and giving them aesthetic objects or places to see.” The diverse perspectives and translations on experience marketing has made it difficult to define experience marketing as there is no consensus even today. What is clear is that it aims to emphasize how the quality of the overall experience affects the creation of memorable episodes: a customer ́s direct personal participation or observation inside a process includes rational decision-making and the sentimental consumption experience (Baron et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2010).
Although this concept was born in the business field in 1998, it has permeated
service-oriented fields such as hospitality, tourism, retailing and entertainment (Grewal et al.
2009; Verhoef et al. 2009; Brakus et al. 2009; Gentile et al. 2007). Specifically, in retail, Pine and Gilmore (1998 and 1999) explained their view in the following manner: “when a person buys a service, he purchases a set of intangible activities carried out on his behalf. But when he buys an experience, he pays to spend time enjoying a series of memorable events that a company stages to engage him in a personal way.” (p.71)
Experiential Marketing
In the same year, of Pine, and Gilmore, as well as Schmitt (1999) coined the term Experiential Marketing for a marketing discipline, providing new managerial tools that enrich the products (or services) by sensory, emotional, cognitive, behavioral and relational values.
According to Holbrook and Hirschman (1982), whereas traditional marketing frameworks view consumers as rational decision-makers focused on the functional features and benefits of products, experiential marketing views consumers as emotional beings, focused on
achieving pleasurable experiences.13 A lot of definitions of experiential marketing have been offered (International Experiential Marketing Association, 201114; You-Ming, 201015), but according to Same and Larimo (2012), all these definitions indicate that experiential marketing is mainly related to emotions, feelings, and senses; and has less to do with cognition and human intentions.
Schmitt’s framework is composed of two aspects: five types of experiences, called strategic experiential modules (SEMs) and experience providers (ExPros) as tactical tools for Brand-related stimuli (Schmitt 1999a, 1999b).. In this way, he related customer and Brand experience, where Brand experience is conceptualized as “subjective, internal consumer responses (sensations, feelings, and cognitions) and behavioral responses evoked by specific Brand-related stimuli that are part of a Brand’s design and identity, packaging,
communications, and environments” (Brakus, 2009).
13 The difference between traditional and experiential marketing can be highlighted in a number of ways. First, the focus is on customer experiences and lifestyles, which provide sensory, emotional, cognitive and relational values to the consumer. Second, there is a focus on creating synergies among meaning, perception, consumption and Brand loyalty. Third, it is argued that customers are not rational decision-makers but are rather driven by rationality and emotions. Finally, it is argued that experiential marketing requires a more diverse range of research methods in order to understand consumers. (Ferraresi and Schmitt, 2006; Brakus et al., 2009)
14 International Experiential Marketing Association (2011) states that experiential marketing “allows customers to engage and interact with Brands, products, and services in sensory ways”.
15 According to You-Ming (2010), experiential marketing is a “communication method, which mainly raises customers’ physical and emotional feelings”
The Experience in Premium-Luxury Retail
Referring to premium-luxury retail, Brand experience is in most cases conditioned by the level of consistency achieved between three stimuli: product stimuli (quality, design, refinement in details, recognizability, etc.), environment stimuli (location of the store, interior design, architecture, visual merchandising, etc.), relationship stimuli (personnel behaviors, personnel communication, etc.). The first two is static and not customized because they are delivered to the customer in a predesigned state and not created in real time or dynamic as is the experience with the salespeople (Schmitt, 2003; Ferraresi and Schmitt, 2006). In
premium-luxury retail stores, the reputation of the Brand is a guarantee of excellent product quality and refinement. Furthermore, the items are sold to rich customers, who can buy what they desire, hence, the price is not a discriminating factor of choice (Grewal & al., 2009;
Verhoef et al., 2009).
As a result, the typical product evaluation (Kerin et al., 1993 p.378) is less important than the service encounter (Ferraresi & Schmitt, 2006). It is therefore natural that, in
evaluating Brand experience inside the store, the customer refers to relational aspects and expects high-level, pleasant, and compelling treatment by the sales assistant, the Brand Ambassador. Brakus et al. (2009) reinforced this perspective while clarifying the subdivision product, shopping/service, consumption experience, and connecting them to retail. He
deepened the concept of service experiences saying that experiences occur when a consumer interacts with a store’s physical environment, its personnel, and its policies and practices (Hui
& Bateson 1991; Kerin et al., 2002). Interactions are an essential part of these experiences, a medium through which customers construct their own meaning of the context and shape their preferences (Arnold et al. 2005; Boulding et al. 1993; Ofir & Simonson 2007). All of these experiences enhance the sense of belonging and help to create a sense of being a member of a group, which in turn makes the experience personal, memorable and unique, even when engaging in the same type of activities repeatedly (Gupta & Vajic, 2000).
According to the definitions of experience mentioned previously, the conceptual line of Same and Larimo (2012) can be understood as “the strategic (customer-centric) and holistic management of relevant (and meaningful) experiences that takes into account the affective, cognitive and conative perspectives of consumption experience. Thus, experience marketing is employed to manage customer interactions, cross-channel exposure, and value co-creation” (p.483).
Experiential marketing shows that the ways managers create experiences is part of experience marketing, because it’s “a tactical, rather than a strategic approach that marketers should consider central to their integrated marketing communications plans, including techniques, which are part of the core experience marketing strategy” (Same &
Larimo, 2012; Schmitt 2003).
The Experience in This Research
Despite the differences in these perspectives, there are some common core
characteristics of experiences that refer to the emotional dimension, beyond the rational act of purchase, where affect plays a key role. This creates the space for my current investigation of the neurophysiological parameters involved in engagement and frustration. Experiences are:
1) Inherently personal, internal, with lack of tangibility. They exist only in the mind of an individual; hence, two people can’t have the same experience (Pine & Gilmore, 1998,1999; Schmitt, 2003; Gentile et al., 2007). For this reason, each sales assistant interaction has been considered and measured individually in the current study;
2) They have holistic in nature and involve “different customer levels such as sensorial, emotional, cognitive, pragmatic, lifestyle, relational, physical and spiritual”
(Hoolbrok & Hirschman, 1982; Schmitt, 2003; Gentile et al., 2007; Verhoef et al., 2009; Grewal et al., 2009). Hence, the inner dimensions should be measured not only traditionally and in a qualitative way (with surveys and interviews) but using
quantitative methods to assess these dimensions;
3) They occur in response to some stimulations that can be interpersonal (between people) or intrapersonal (within a person). These stimulations can be created by controlled or uncontrolled elements (Schmitt, 1999a, 1999b and 2003; Ferraresi &
Schmitt, 2006; Verhoef et al., 2009). In the service encounter they are interpersonal and actively co-created by sale assistant and customer (Bendapudi & Leone, 2003;
Xie et al., 2008; Keh et al., 2001; Keh et al., 2013);
4) They are multi-dimensional because the Brand-related stimuli generate emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses. In fact, they have a temporal dimension which originates from the entire set of direct and indirect contact points16 between the customer and the company (Addis & Holbrook; 2001; Carù & Cova, 2003; LaSalle &
Britton, 2003; Gentile et al., 2007). In the store, the temporal dimension is the duration of the service encounter, from the welcome, to the farewell. Furthermore, they vary in strength and intensity (some Brand experiences are stronger or more intense than others) and in valence (some are more positive or negative than others);
5) Their value affects the memory in a powerful way (Pine & Gilmore, 1998 and 1999:
Gentile et al., 2007), creating advocates and evangelists. For this reason, this research investigates the connection of the experience to customer loyalty;
6) Companies can work to create manufactured and reproducible experiences through Brand Building Behaviors in the Selling Ceremony. Customers hardly ever recognize such structures, but they perceive each experience as a complex but unitary feeling;
each component being hardly distinguishable from the others (LaSalle & Britton, 2003; Schmitt, 1999; Gentile et al., 2007). Despite the importance of managing experiences, in most cases they are unexpected and spontaneous (Schmitt, 2003;
16 “Direct contact generally occurs in the course of purchase, use, and service and is usually initiated by the customer. Indirect contact most often involves unplanned encounters with representatives of a company’s products, service or Brands and takes the form of word-of-mouth recommendations or criticisms, advertising, news reports, reviews and so forth.” (Meyer and Schwager 2007, in Verhoef, 2009).
Ferraresi & Schmitt, 2006). Therefore, the analysis of extraordinary and frustrating experiences plays a fundamental role in this analysis.
7) Experiences states are more likely to occur at work than during recreation due in part to having clearly defined goals (Gardener et al., 2002). Therefore, the analysis investigates the behaviors of sale assistants during the service encounter in the store.
1.2.2 Extraordinary and Terrible Experiences: from the Definition to the Analysis Inside the Retail Setting.
Defining Extraordinary Experiences.
Consumer researchers show that there is a difference between the simple pleasure of an ordinary (or mundane) experience and an epiphanic (Denzin, 1992) or an extraordinary (Abrahams, 1986) experience (Arnould & Price, 1993; Arnold et al.,2003; Schmitt, 1999 and 2010; Bhattacharjee & Mogilner, 2013: Sussmann & Alter, 2012). Ordinary experiences are common, frequent and occur within everyday life; they are routine and result, to a degree, from passive stimulation. Extraordinary or memorable experiences are uncommon and inherently superior (La Salle & Britton, 2003). They go beyond the realm of everyday life and they are more active, intense, and stylized, making them “special” (Zauberman et al., 2009) The current study measures several different aspects of such experiences including the:
relative frequency, duration, superiority and inferiority to ordinary experiences.
Detailed analyses of extraordinary experiences have been conducted using
interpretative research of river rafters (Arnould and Price, 1993), sky divers (Loeffler, 2004), and Harley Davidson motorcyclists (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995). Extraordinary
experiences may also be aesthetic experiences, which may occur during a classical music concert, in art, or by viewing landscapes. Extraordinary experiences include extreme emotions, are often communal in nature, and transformational for consumers. According to this, extraordinary experiences can be referred in several ways in the literature (Arnould &
Price, 1993; Caru’ & Cova, 2003).
Table 1.
Definitions of Extraordinary Experience
Name Definition Academic/Researcher
Flow Experience It’s an internal process characterized as a state of intense concentration, focus, and absolute absorption in a challenging activity.
Csikszentmihalyi 1990, 1997 Carù & Cova, 2003 Peak Experience It originates from the outside of the consumer and it’s
achieved through intense and focused activity, and the absorption or immersion in those activities.
Maslow, 1964;
Privette, 1983
Epiphanic Experience It ruptures routines and lives and provoke radical definition of the self. Epiphanic moments are connected to turning-point experiences, where people redefine themselves.
Denzin, 1992
Transcendent Customer Experience
It’s marked by emotional intensity, singularity, extreme enjoyment, ineffability, focus of attention, and the testing of personal limits. It provokes radical redefinitions of the self.
Schouten et al., 2007
Extraordinary Experience
It’s put inside a processual perspective. An ordinary experience corresponds to everyday life, routine and the passive acceptance of events. An extraordinary experience corresponds to more intense, framed, and stylized practices.
Abrahams, 1986
Experiences Referring to Dilthey’s distinction the “mere experience”
is simply the passive endurance and acceptance of events. An experience stands out from the evenness of passing hours and years.
Turner et al., 1986
Perfect Costumer Experience
It results in customers becoming advocates for the Company, creating referral, retention and profitable growth. It is connected with advocacy.
Frow & Payne, 2007
Extraordinary Experiences in the Retail Setting
Referring specifically to retail, a definition of an extraordinary moment, called a
“wow moment” comes from Kotler (2017). This moment derives from the expression used by customers when they receive a surprise so pleasant that it renders them speechless. This is also the term used by Louis Vuitton and Apple, while Burberry names them Iconic Moments
“which happen when the Company wows their customers, exceeds their expectations and provides exceptional customer service beyond the norm, making the experience also
luxurious.". These moments are well designed inside the Selling Ceremony and they connect to the Brand (the "motif").
On the grounds that not every experience is extraordinary, premium-luxury Brands made lot of efforts to create harmonization and surprise during the Selling Ceremony.
Harmonization consists in the creation of a harmonious service that provides coherence, security, reassurance, familiarity (Ind, 2001 p.61). At the same time, the effect of randomness, the surprise, the sense of discovery incorporated within the values and the history of the Brand, is customized within the Selling Ceremony. For example, Nike carries in its extraordinary experiences, the values of excellence and "justified irreverence" (Ind, 2001 p.63). It has to be said that harmonization and surprise can vary according to geographical areas (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008). Therefore, they have similar
characteristics in the stores, with some unique traits depending on where they are located.
FRSTeam calls these extraordinary experiences “goose bump moments” (Gallo, 2012 p.154), while Carbone and Haeckel17 (1994 p.13) define these moments as "Sticktion." Both show how to create them, how to distinguish the Brand from competitors. For this reason, they need to be identified and put “over-index” (Smith e Co., 2013).
17 Carbone and Haeckel (1994 p.13) define these moments as "Sticktion" using a term coined by the engineers of the 3M Company for magnetic bands, elements referring to limited moments of experience and which are sufficiently extraordinary to be remembered without being abrasive. The "Sticktion" goes beyond the experience but does not try to overwhelm it.
It has to be said that sales and service that brings extraordinary experiences isn’t necessarily about grand gestures (Leadbetter, 2011). It can be about doing little things such as helping the customer carrying goods to the car, offering directions, or giving him a seat.
Apple, for example, position employees at the front entrance during new product launches so they can cheer and clap for customers when they walk out with their new devices, or, they distribute bottled water or pizza slices to people in line always keeping the smile (Gallo, 2012 p.169). Burberry in London provides some umbrella bags on umbrellas on rainy days or Louis Vuitton provides a special gift that is not purchasable for special customers18. All these gestures are surprising, unique and personalized (Stephens, 2016; Kotler, 2017). Therefore, they affect the memorability (Pine and Gilmore, 1999 p.67) and they are contagious in the sense that they generate advocacy (Stephens, 2016) and loyalty.
But, to ensure the integrity of the customer experience and the exceeding of
expectations, it is not enough to draw, test, and execute clues and positive moments. It is also necessary to eliminate any element that impoverishes, contradicts, or generates negative feelings (Berry & Carbone, 2007), because unfortunately, the disservice is perceived more than the service (Pine a& Gilmore, 1999 p. 81). In fact, the customer could forget a
consistently reliable service and instead remember the occasional mishap that creates
unpleasant sensations (Kang, 2012). Unfortunately, regarding the topic of salesperson failure, a few researches examined the factors associated with these negative experiences (Johnston et al, 1989; Ingram, 1992; Dolakia & Schroeder, 2001; Arnold et al., 2003).
The research of extraordinary and terrible experiences in the retail setting is
connected to the service encounter (Suprenant et al., 1985,1987). The diagnosis of favorable and unfavorable incidents based on the customer’s perspective have been examined by Bitner
18 As at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Naples where the knobs of the old doors turned into cards were given away, also happens by Louis Vuitton who creates special products and not for sale to give to his VICs (Very Important Customers) when they buy in shops. These products are many more powerful, the more they involve the senses (Berry, 1995) so some real examples are candles or wine.
et al. (1990). In their paper, they assess both satisfactory and unsatisfactory incidents that attributed to one or more of three major types of employee behaviors: how the employee responded to a service delivery failure, how the employee responded to customer needs and requests, and unprompted or unsolicited employee actions. The last category corresponds to extraordinary experiences. Bitner et al. (1994) later investigated the sources of satisfactory and dissatisfactory service encounters from the service employee’s viewpoint. The results of this study revealed that all the categories found in the original customer-perspective study were also found inside the employees’ study. However, previous research correlating customer and employee views of service is sparse and offers mixed conclusions. Schneider and Bowen (1985) and Schneider et al. (1980) found high correlations between employee and customer attitudes about overall service quality in a bank setting. Their results are
contradicted, however, by Brown and Swartz (1989) where correlations were rather large but inversely related. Therefore, the current study is hypothesized to find similarities as well as differences in employee and customer views of the service encounter.
Arnold et al. (2003) continued the analysis, focusing on extraordinary (delightful) and terrible experiences. This study reported that the sorting of incidents led to two major groups of factors that appear to be associated with delightful shopping experiences: non-
interpersonal and interpersonal. The non-interpersonal factor relates to situations in which the basis of the delightful experience springs from product procurement or value attainment. The interpersonal factor refers to situations when the source of the delightful experience is
attributable to the actions of a salesperson. The latter is the focus of this research. Five categories emerged for both delight and terrible experiences: (lack of) interpersonal effort;
(lack of) interpersonal engagement); (lack of) problem resolution; (lack of) interpersonal distance; (lack of) commitment. In addition, two more categories are only for terrible experiences: lack of ethics; lack of skills and knowledge.
